The present invention relates to vehicle roof racks, and more particularly to a roof rack having an automatic reminder alarm that is triggered by a transmitter at a garage or carport.
It is an unfortunate but all to common occurrence where a bicycle owner returns from a ride with a bicycle mounted in a roof rack, forgets that the bicycle is on the car, and pulls into the garage or carport. Typically, the bicycle strikes the garage door, garage opening or carport roof causing severe damage to the bicycle, roof rack, car and/or the garage or carport. While this type of accident happens most frequently with bicycles, other recreational equipment, such as canoes and kayaks, may suffer a similar fate if the profile of the recreational equipment is tall enough to strike the garage or carport.
There are devices available to remind the driver that recreational equipment is mounted in a roof rack. These include small signs that the driver dangles from the rear-view mirror whenever a bicycle or other recreational equipment is in the roof rack, and small banners that attach to the inside of the garage door such that when the garage door opens, the banner hangs down and reminds the driver to remember if a bicycle or other recreational equipment is on top of the car. A problem with the first device is that the driver must remember to dangle the sign from the mirror each and every time high profile recreational equipment is mounted to the car. A problem with both devices is that, after a while, the driver becomes used to seeing the dangling sign and hanging banner, and the devices soon fail to properly alert the driver that recreational equipment is mounted in the roof rack.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic system that alerts the driver, when approaching the garage or carport, that high profile recreational equipment is mounted in the roof rack.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention is an automatic reminder alarm for a bicycle rack that includes a transmitter placed in proximity of the garage or carport, a receiver placed inside the car, an alarm connected to and triggered by the receiver, and an actuating device that activates the receiver when a bicycle is mounted in the bicycle rack. When the receiver in the car is activated by the actuating device and comes within range of the transmitter near the garage or carport, the receiver triggers the alarm which alerts the driver that there is a bicycle mounted in the bicycle rack.